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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26457724">Press Play</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/georgescatcafe/pseuds/georgescatcafe'>georgescatcafe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:21:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,044</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26457724</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/georgescatcafe/pseuds/georgescatcafe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You have so many more freckles than I thought you do,” Sapnap says, leaning his chin on his hand. “I don’t even think I could count them all.”</p><p>Dream blinks, sitting up. “I—I mean, I don’t think I have that many.”</p><p>“Dude,” Sapnap says. He points a finger at his own face, drawing a circle around it. “It’s so many. Like... you could draw constellations there.”</p><p>A moment passes. Dream lets it go. Sapnap gives another laugh.</p><p>“Be honest,” he says, “how freckled are your shoulders?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>934</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Press Play</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Day 1 </em>
</p><p>He doesn’t know what he’s doing, not really. They had talked this through, probably way more than necessary—Dream’s fault, but he couldn’t help it. His heart is a battery in his chest, shaking the earth beneath him and lighting the flame of anxiety in his stomach. Sapnap knows what he looks like, has seen him at his highs and his lows and even lower, but there’s something so much more... real in actually... meeting. In being able to touch, to hold onto and not let go. Dream’s fingers grip tighter around the wheel as he finally finds a place to park, and he finds himself sitting in the car long after he’s gotten there.</p><p>And then his phone alarm goes off, telling him he’s only got so much time before Sapnap’s flight lands, and Dream is finding himself running on autopilot, shutting off the car, getting out, walking to the entrance, finding a bench and collapsing on it. A flight from Colorado has come in, and the conveyor spins lazily, the flight small, the suitcase count minimal. Dream closes his eyes, leaning back in his seat and taking a breath. This is it. This <em> is </em> it.</p><p>His phone goes off again. It’s not an alarm. It’s a call.</p><p>Dream licks his lips. Answers. “Hello?”</p><p>“I’m on my way,” Sapnap says.</p><p>Dream can hear the sound of life in the background, chatter, beeping, rumbling, <em> noise</em>. He takes another breath. “I’m at baggage claim. You’ll see me.”</p><p>A pause. When Sapnap speaks, Dream can hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll see you.”</p><p>The call ends. Dream immediately calls back. Sapnap answers. “Yeah?”</p><p>“Stay on the line,” Dream says. “I want—just... stay.”</p><p>A breath. “Of course.”</p><p>The pressure building behind his eyes burns. Dream nods. “Okay. Thank you.”</p><p>A laugh. Again, “Of course.”</p><p>Dream brings a hand up to swipe at his eyes. It comes back dry. He feels a lump in his throat. He tries to swallow it down. The noises coming through the phone begin to blend with the environment around him. Dream watches the light of another conveyor flash, his eyes go to the sign. It’s for Sapnap’s flight.</p><p>“You good?”</p><p>Dream blinks, pulling the phone away from his ear before setting it back. “Yeah. I just... this is happening.”</p><p>“It’s happening.” Dream smiles; it’s wobbly. “I’m almost there.”</p><p>“Cool.” Dream bites his lips. “Cool.”</p><p>Dream’s eyes go to the entrance of the baggage claim. People, everyone in the world, it seems, everyone who isn’t Sapnap, come through. He has his phone in a death grip. He hears Sapnap’s breath through the line. Hears the speakers, announcing the arrival of a new flight. Dream’s heart is in his stomach.</p><p>He glances back at the conveyor’s sign. HOU blinks at him in bright letters. He stands. He looks to the entrance and locks eyes with—</p><p>“Dream!” The shriek pierces his ears but it might be the best sound he’s ever heard, that or the laughter that encapsulates him as arms circle around his waist, a face pressed into his shoulder. “Holy shit. Holy shit, dude. This is happening.”</p><p>“Sap,” Dream breathes out, one hand still holding his phone as the other snakes around Sapnap’s back to hold him tight. And then he shoves his phone in his pocket, not even bothering ending the call. They can do that later. He wraps his now-free arm around Sapnap too. And then he just takes him in. Closes his eyes, buries his nose in Sapnap’s hair, holds him as close as he can. “Oh my God.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Sapnap’s voice is muffled. Dream doesn’t cry. He won’t let himself. And then Sapnap pulls away, and then he <em> smiles </em> at him, and the tears start pouring.</p><p>“Holy shit,” Dream echoes Sapnap’s words from before. “Holy shit. It’s you. You’re... you’re <em> here</em>. With me. And I’m—you’re—you—you’re here!”</p><p>“I’m here!” Sapnap concurs. “Oh man.” He pulls Dream back into another hug. It’s the best feeling ever. “Oh, this is great.”</p><p>Dream nods, and then the speakers come on again, announcing the final conveyor’s flight. He and Sapnap separate, and Sapnap turns to the conveyor. “Ugh,” he says, “this thing.”</p><p>When Dream laughs, it comes out raspy, squeaky, choked. Sapnap glances at him.</p><p>“You okay, dude?” he asks.</p><p>Dream wipes his eyes, and this time, his hand comes back wet. “Yeah,” he says. “I just can’t believe you’re actually here.”</p><p>Sapnap laughs, and it’s better than any music Dream has ever heard. “I know, right? It’s so crazy.” His eyes survey the conveyor all the while. Finally, he must spot his luggage, because he nudges Dream, nodding his head at the conveyor. “I’m gonna....”</p><p>“No,” Dream says, and then he’s making his way over, “which one is it? Let me—“</p><p>“Oh, it’s—no, it’s okay,” Sapnap tries, but Dream’s hands are already reaching for the suitcase he assumes is his friend’s. When Sapnap nods at the inquisitive look Dream sends him, he grabs it and tugs it off the belt. He has so much he wants to say to him, so much he wants to <em> do </em> with him, but all the words get caught in his throat as he directs Sapnap back to his car. Sapnap is now a steady presence at Dream’s side, a presence he wishes he could keep forever.</p><p>In the car, Sapnap tells him about his flight and about what he hopes he can see on this trip and at one point he turns to Dream, lifting a hand to brush away a stray bit of hair that had fallen in his eyes. Dream swallows, and Sapnap’s hand goes right back to his lap, where he holds it down with his other one. “You, uh—don’t want you to crash!”</p><p>Dream swallows. “Yeah. That’d be... bad.”</p><p>A beat.</p><p>“Oh my God,” Sapnap’s shoulders shake with laughter, “this is so dumb.”</p><p>Dream starts to laugh too. When they reach a red light and he looks over, Sapnap is already looking back. Dream hopes he mistakes the red in his cheeks for the red from the light.</p><hr/><p>
  <em> Day 2 </em>
</p><p>They’re eating lunch in a sunny cafe. The sunlight catches in Sapnap’s hair and spins the auburn locks into gold. Dream finds his eyes continually drawn to them then back down to the content smile that has stretched on his friend’s lips. When he speaks, his smile stays, and Dream has to remind himself to meet his eyes.</p><p>Sapnap drums his fingers on the table before he takes a sip of water. “It’s so much <em> brighter </em> here,” he says. “It’s like... I knew it could be sunny, duh. But, like, dude, it’s nothing but sun.”</p><p>Dream nods, tilting his chair back to look out through the roof, the sun high in the sky above them. “It’s a lot.”</p><p>“You have so many more freckles than I thought you do,” Sapnap says, leaning his chin on his hand. “I don’t even think I could count them all.”</p><p>Dream blinks, sitting up. “I—I mean, I don’t think I have that many.”</p><p>“Dude,” Sapnap says. He points a finger at his own face, drawing a circle around it. “It’s so many. Like... you could draw constellations there.”</p><p>Dream coughs behind a fist. “Um, thanks?”</p><p>Sapnap blinks, leaning back, like he’s just realized what he said. “No... no problem. It’s just...,” he gives a laugh, “true.”</p><p>A moment passes. Dream lets it go. Sapnap gives another laugh.</p><p>“Be honest,” he says, “how freckled are your shoulders?”</p><hr/><p>
  <em> Day 3 </em>
</p><p>Dream doesn’t like the beach. Sand gets everywhere, there’s the pounding sun, and, half the time, if you’re not out by 8am, you’ve got no place to put your things. But he’s willing to ignore all this just for another second of Sapnap in the sun, standing proud against the skyline, the beach an endless backdrop behind him.</p><p>“So?” Sapnap calls, turning to him. “How freckled are you?”</p><p>Dream swallows. His hand comes up to grab the back of his shirt. He pulls it over his head. When he lowers his arms, Sapnap studies him with narrowed eyes, chin resting between his thumb and pointer finger. When he comes closer, Dream wonders if the heat under his skin is from the sun or himself. Sapnap places a hand on his shoulder, and Dream swallows. From himself. Definitely from himself.</p><p>“H’m,” Sapnap says. “Not quite.”</p><p>“I don’t go to the beach that often,” Dream tells him. “And I don’t wear tank tops a lot either.”</p><p>Sapnap hums again before patting his shoulder. Dream looks out over the water. And then. “Race you there.”</p><p>Dream wins, and he turns around to rub the victory in his friend’s face, but then Sapnap is grabbing him by the arm and falling into the water, dragging Dream down with him. When they rise, their hair is wet, and Dream’s falls in front of his eyes in thin, wavy tendrils. Sapnap lifts his hand in a repeat of what happened in the car; when the heel of his palm brushes against Dream’s forehead, Dream takes in a breath, staring at his eyes. They don’t even stare back, instead locked on Dream’s hair.</p><p>Dream moves first. Sapnap tastes like salt, the bitter tang of the beer he had drunk on the way there, like the sun soaking into his skin, golden honey pouring over his tongue. His fingers find their place in Sapnap’s hair, one at the base of his neck, the other cupping the back of his head, pulling him closer. He feels Sapnap’s hands tug at his shoulders, nails scratch across his back, before they come to rest, one at his waist, one still holding tight to his shoulder.</p><p>When Dream pulls away, he’s only given a second to breathe before Sapnap is pulling him back in. The crashing of a wave against them breaks them apart. Dream finds himself winded, staring down at him.</p><p>“I…,” he can’t find the words. He licks his lips. The salt of the sea sticks to them.</p><p>Sapnap stares back. “I don’t….” He swallows. “I don’t regret it.”</p><p>The ocean makes them sway, a dance neither of them properly began. Dream looks out across the ocean, squinting against the sun. He feels Sapnap’s gaze on him all the while. “Me neither,” he says. Finally, Sapnap turns too, gaze on some distant point. “It’s beautiful.”</p><p>“Yeah.” They both know he’s not talking about the ocean. But it’s not like Dream had been talking about it either.</p><hr/><p>
  <em> Day 4 </em>
</p><p>Dream doesn’t know if it’ll last. He wants it to. He really wants it to.</p><p>Sapnap lays spread across his bed, phone hovering above his face. Every once in a while he’ll laugh at something, rolling over to show Dream, but for the most part he’s silent. Dream is content to sit in silence too, eyes drifting over to Sapnap every couple of seconds. He can’t help it. Sure, they can FaceTime, they can send pictures (not that Dream sends pictures of <em> himself</em>, not... often. It’s just not something he <em>does</em>), but it’s not the same thing as Sapnap being here, Dream’s eyes left to roam his face, memorize the slope of nose, the shape of his eyebrows, in actual perfect detail—not the pixelated mess you can end up with from your phone. And it’s not the same anyway. On your phone you can’t notice the small details, the minute rise and fall of his chest, the fluttering of his eyelashes. It’s just not the same.</p><p>Dream leans down. Sapnap’s gaze goes from his phone to the other’s face.</p><p>“Hey,” Dream says.</p><p>“Hey yourself,” Sapnap replies.</p><p>They move at the same pace.</p><p>Dream tangles his fingers into Sapnap’s hair, wondering if he can leave them like that, if they could lay here forever, if he could get Sapnap to stay. It’s stupid, it’s a daydream, a fantasy, something he’s allowed to think about but never have. For a moment, he pretends it’s something he can have.</p><p>It tugs at his heartstrings and squeezes his lungs. Sapnap’s dropped his phone and wrapped his arms around Dream, pulling him down so they’re pressed chest to chest. Dream lets himself fall into him.</p><p>When they separate, Dream keeps his eyes closed, dragging his lips from the tip of Sapnap’s nose to the flat plane of his forehead. He feels his friend’s breath on his throat, and it sends a shiver down his spine, his body a live wire. Electricity dances along his bones, threatening to light him up completely at the smallest touch. One of Sapnap’s hands slides around to press against his chest, and Dream feels the switch flip, fire spreading through him.</p><p>“Fuck,” he breathes against Sapnap’s skin. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Why?” Sapnap asks.</p><p>“I can’t do this to you,” Dream replies. “This is—it’s a bad idea. I’m sorry.” He moves to push himself up, to get away from him, but Sapnap’s got a hand on his wrist, gripping his shirt tight, keeping him close.</p><p>“Why?” he repeats. “What changed?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Dream answers. He swallows, looking away. “Everything.” The grip on his shirt relaxes, and with it, so does Dream, sagging over, exhaustion weighing him down. “I just... I want too much, don’t I?”</p><p>“Well....” Dream thinks it’s a ‘yes.’ It sounds like a ‘yes.’ Sapnap’s fingers dance along his jaw; they grip, and Dream is forced to look at him. “You’ve never said <em> what </em> you want.”</p><p>“Neither have you.”</p><p>Sapnap laughs, light and airy. “That’s true.” His cheeks are flushed. “I don’t know,” he finally says. “You? This? I’ve just been taking what’s given.”</p><p>“No,” Dream says. “You... you give just as much.”</p><p>Sapnap huffs another laugh, and the grip on his chin loosens so his fingers once again brush gently against his skin. “Alright,” he says. “If you say so.”</p><p>“No,” Dream repeats. “I mean it.”</p><p>Sapnap studies him for a second. Dream does the same. “So,” Sapnap begins, “what do <em> you </em> want?”</p><p>“Same as you,” Dream shrugs, picking at a loose thread in his comforter; he feels the other’s gaze on his face, “and for you to stay.”</p><p>“I want that too,” Sapnap begins, but Dream shakes his head.</p><p>“It’s more than just you being here,” he says. “It’s like... I want to just... have you here, all the time, and when you’re not here, I want to know you’re coming back, and it’s like....” He makes a noise in his throat.</p><p>Sapnap falls back onto the bed. “It’s a lot.”</p><p>Dream nods, imitating the motion. Sapnap takes his hand.</p><p>“So do we keep this going?” he asks. “Or do we pause?”</p><hr/><p>
  <em> Day 5 </em>
</p><p>Sapnap will come back to Florida. Dream will go to Texas. They’ll go somewhere else, together. They just have to wait.</p><p>“Pause it,” Dream says finally over dinner. “We can think it over. It was sudden. It was... the sun, it’s new, you’re <em> here</em>. It’s a lot.”</p><p>“It’s a lot,” Sapnap agrees.</p><p>“So we pause it,” Dream says. It’s not running away. Sapnap gets another handful of fries. “When we meet again, we’ll see how we feel.”</p><p>“Okay,” Sapnap says.</p><p>Dream nods. “Okay,” he says. “Okay.”</p><hr/><p>
  <em> Day 6 </em>
</p><p>Sapnap’s palms are warm on Dream’s back, and Dream closes his eyes as he feels the other’s fingers trace constellations in the freckles on his skin.  <em> I love you</em>, he thinks. <em> I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. </em></p><p>“You’re my best friend,” he says instead.</p><p>“You too.”</p><p>Dream doesn’t kiss him. He wants to.</p><hr/><p>
  <em> Day 7 </em>
</p><p>The drive to the airport is one spent in silence. It’s obvious neither of them want it to be. Dream’s fingers drum on the steering wheel as Sapnap taps an unknown beat on his knee. Dream curls his fingers around the wheel, holding it tight as Sapnap looks over at him. Even when Dream thinks the other might speak, he doesn’t, merely keeping his gaze steady on him.</p><p>Dream glances over. Sapnap stares back.</p><p>He wants to say it. He can always say it. He means it. He’s always meant it. But he never meant it this way.</p><p>Dream puts a hand on the console. Sapnap takes it. Dream squeezes his hand tight and wishes he’d never have to let go.</p><p>When they arrive at the airport, they both get out because Dream’ll be damned if he ends things in a half-hug over the center console. He walks Sapnap as far as he can, the suitcase clanging behind them until they pass it on to the airline, and then nothing but their footsteps between them. When they reach security, Dream’s fingers are twitching with the need to reach out and touch, to get his last fill of him before he goes, and Sapnap has his hands shoved in his pockets. Dream wonders if he feels the same.</p><p>“So,” Sapnap says.</p><p>“So,” Dream agrees.</p><p>They don’t kiss. They want to.</p><p>Dream pulls him into a hug. He feels Sapnap bury his face in his neck and hold him tighter. He doesn’t cry. They’ll see each other again. He doesn’t cry.</p><p>They’ll see each other again.</p><hr/><p>Stepping off the plane is perhaps the best feeling in the world. His legs are cramped from sitting in the chair for so long, and his eyes feel heavy with the poor nap he took. Stretching in the bright morning sun that filters through the large windows is heaven.</p><p>And then he’s making his way to baggage claim.</p><p>He doesn’t run, but perhaps he cuts some corners, near knocks over a display and a violinist, trips over his feet in his haste to get to where he needs to be. Where <em> he’ll </em> be.</p><p>Dream reaches baggage claim.</p><p>Of <em> course </em> Sapnap sees him first, eyes wide with excitement, like they’ve never met before, never done exactly this before, mouth opening in a shout, a grin. Dream runs.</p><p>It hasn’t even been that long. Less than a season. Not much more than a month. But it feels like forever. They both pull away from the hug they threw themselves into and Dream finds himself asking:</p><p>“Still paused?”</p><p>Sapnap kisses him. Dream kisses him back. Into Dream’s mouth, he says, “I’ve missed you.”</p><p>Into his mouth, Dream says, “I love you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>edit: ppl thinking this is a new fic. lol, iykyk</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/ywywbunny">twitter</a> &amp; <a href="https://georgescatcafe.tumblr.com">tumblr</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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